Spare a thought for babies in today’s Israel and Palestine

THE EDITOR, Madam:

About 1,800 years ago, Pope Julius I chose December 25 as Jesus Christ’s birthday, to incorporate pagans already celebrating Sol Invictus and Saturnalia. Today, the countdown to Christmas is on, many stores filled with special treats and goods that will be graciously given and gratefully received. Shopping malls are decorated with twinkling lights on evergreen trees, and that jolly overweight guy in the red suit is everywhere; in the chaos that always ensues, many will forget about a baby born centuries ago.

Whether you take the Nativity as the gospel truth, or merely as another Hebrew myth and fable, it holds a little more drama this year. The story goes that a carpenter and his pregnant teenage bride travelled from Nazareth to participate in a census ordered by King Herod of Judea, in what is the Occupied West Bank today.

Being homeless in Bethlehem, they sought refuge in a cowshed, where the young woman gave birth. The life story of that baby was eventually chronicled by four of his followers, documenting miraculous events such as changing water into wine, and feeding 5,000 people with very meagre resources. Stories like these became legend, as did the teachings and circumstances of an untimely death at age 33. Followers of those teachings spread across the world long before TikTok was invented, with almost one-third of the global population making up today’s largest religion. Of course, some are more devout than others, while many appear to be Christian in name only. The growth of this religion has not always been as peaceful as its icon, with so much blood spilled around the world on the paths to salvation and redemption.

Meanwhile, folks from other faiths, and many with no religious affiliation at all, enjoy Christmas festivities, but with a greater emphasis on the guy in the red suit than the babe in the manger. Global attention recently turned to events on that volatile part of the world when Islamist terrorists from Gaza attacked innocent Jews in southern Israel. Reports of babies being beheaded caused horror worldwide, but there are various claims and counterclaims regarding the veracity of those reports. Israel declared war on the Hamas leadership in Gaza; the brutality of which is just as stomach-churning, with thousands of innocent Palestinians being slaughtered. Gaza’s hospitals are targets, with heart-rending pictures of babies dying because incubators are without power.

With no end in sight, this latest Israel-Gaza war will probably continue long after Santa Claus retreats to the North Pole after his sleigh run, so maybe the Christmas spirit should be tempered with thoughts of all those other babies in today’s Israel and Palestine.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada